LAUDERDALE LAKES, Fla. - A prison escapee from Georgia has been captured in South Florida after more than three decades on the run.
Willie Lee Austin was in the Broward County Jail on an out-of-state hold Friday morning after he was captured Wednesday in suburban Fort Lauderdale.
The U.S. Marshals Service said Austin was serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery after being convicted in Columbus. He escaped Dec. 27, 1981.
Officials say Georgia Department of Corrections investigators assigned to the Marshals Service's fugitive task force recently looked into the case and found a possible alias identity for Austin. They found an address in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, and say they took Austin into custody without incident Wednesday.
